Overview
A bandit masquerades as a mayor, igniting a battle of wits and chaos in a small town.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- witty
- irreverent
- sardonic
- action movie night
- international cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an entertaining, sharply written and politically layered Chinese western whose comic energy is offset by overt violence.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film adopts American and Spaghetti Western iconography while staging its conflict in 1920s China.
The town’s power structure and its violent contests are rendered through wry dialogue, mischief, and comic excess.
Zhang mobilizes the masses and uses Maoist rhetoric while pursuing personal power and profit.
Zhang’s impersonation of a hijacked mayoral identity drives a chess-like contest with Huang Silang and Old Tang.
Films like Let the Bullets Fly, and why
The Warlords
shared Chinese political allegory, stylized violence, witty dialogue, and revisionist western framework
Kung Fu Hustle
shared absurd comedy, social satire, stylized action, and larger-than-life bandit characters
Blazing Saddles
shared revisionist western conventions, irreverent humor, political satire, and comic brutality
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
shared strategic rivalry, darkly comic violence, and cynical commentary on power and corruption
Movie Details
- Director
- Jiang Wen
- Release Date
- 2010-12-20
- Runtime
- 132 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (365)
Cast
- Jiang Wen
- Chow Yun-Fat
- Ge You
- Carina Lau
- Shao Bing
- Liao Fan
- Du Yiheng
- Li Jing
- Zhang Mo
- Wei Xiao
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Hi-YAH Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Let the Bullets Fly about?
- A bandit posing as a mayor wages a witty, violent power struggle against a corrupt provincial tyrant in a satirical Chinese western.
- What is Let the Bullets Fly like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Let the Bullets Fly as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Let the Bullets Fly violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Let the Bullets Fly as graphic.
- What did critics think of Let the Bullets Fly?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an entertaining, sharply written and politically layered Chinese western whose comic energy is offset by overt violence.
- Which films are like Let the Bullets Fly?
- Films with a similar feel include The Warlords, Kung Fu Hustle, Blazing Saddles, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
- How long is Let the Bullets Fly?
- Let the Bullets Fly runs 132 minutes.
- Where can I watch Let the Bullets Fly?
- In United States, Let the Bullets Fly streams on Amazon Prime Video, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Hi-YAH Amazon Channel.
